The five essential rules for updating kids' bedrooms…without burning a hole in your wallet.

When it comes to making the interiors of a house look complete and stylish and consistent, many parents and homeowners alike are stumped upon entering into a kids’ bedroom.

It is, many assume, a daunting task: combining style, consistency, practicality and longevity in a single space fit for a little boy or girl to find home in.

And adding weight to that – how in the world do you make sure a bedroom can seamlessly stay up-to-date with a child’s age?

According to Kylie O’Loughlin and Tori Bishop, the in-house designers at Pillow Talk, designing a kids’ bedroom can be as fun and straightforward as your own. It just comes down to knowing exactly what’s going to save you both money and time. Oh, and allow you a little bit of a creative canvas for some funky styling, too.

In fact, the duo have just released the Pillow Talk kids range, combining their interior design expertise with their experiences as mums. The result? A practical range that doesn’t scrimp on style.

Here, we asked Kylie and Tori their very best tips to keeping a kids’ bedroom up-to-date with their age. With six kids between them, they know exactly how to create looks that are long lasting, on trend, and still totally practical.

Image: Pillow Talk.

1. Keep it simple

Lucky for you, over-complicated styling isn't even on trend anymore. According to Kylie and Tori, there has been a massive shift over the last year or two to "simple sophistication".

"Bright primary colours have been replaced with more subtle choices, and motifs have become simple and stylised with children’s bedrooms being more in keeping with the overall décor of the house," the duo tells Mamamia.

"This is ideal for creating timeless spaces. While we want to keep them young forever, all children want to do is grow up! Having a bedroom that feels less like a typical child’s room will definitely require less frequent updating on your behalf."

In fact, according to Pinterest, one of the biggest trends in nurseries this year is gender neutral styling, so it makes sense for this to carry over into the kids' bedrooms, right?!

"Avoid themes and instead choose neutral colours or simple timeless patterns, like stripes, checks or dots for big ticket items like walls, beds, curtains," the pair advise. "This gives you a good base and avoids too much expense or effort every time they grow into a new phase. Use a layered approach, and add fun and playfulness with bed linen, cute accessories and toys on display all of which can be updated with much less hassle and cost."

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2. Be mindful of colour

Sure, colour is fun in the short-term, but in the long-term? Well, a little harder to maintain. Who's to say a kid isn't going to grow out of having blue or green or yellow or pink as their favourite colour?

According to Kylie and Tori, "if you want to add colour, avoid overwhelming brights that you and your child will likely tire of quickly, and instead choose one or two sophisticated subtle colours mixed in with mostly neutrals".

That's not to say a kid's bedroom has to be boring, however. The new Pillow Talk kids range really carefully incorporates subtle, pastel colours in a way that doesn't blind your line of sight and won't date in a couple of years.

Colour done well. Image: Pillow Talk.

3. Have a good think about beds

Yes, this may mean doing away with the race car bed or the princess bedhead.

Beds aren't cheap, that much we know, and we certainly want them to last. It's better to keep it super simple, because a three year old may not want the same race car bed at eight.

Kylie and Tori suggest having a look at a plain, light-coloured timber base: "It gives you the flexibility to leave it raw or paint it for an update down the track. If you make sure it has enough space underneath, it also gives you extra storage that you won’t have with an ensemble. You can always add a bedhead later as well to change it up."

4. Oh, and accessories too

If you really want ways to make sure your children's bedroom is suited to, well, your child, then accessories may be your best bet.

"Bed linen and accessories are the perfect way to start adding more fun themes, colours and bold patterns as they are more easily changed and updated," they tell us. "When choosing quilt covers a simple pattern is likely to get you the most longevity, or look for one like those in the new Pillow Talk kids range that are fully reversible with a theme to one side and a pattern to the other for the best of both worlds."

5. Linen, linen, linen

When it comes to linen, the designers say, it's a great idea to choose a good quality cotton, like they have used in the new Pillow Talk Kids range, so that it will definitely last the test of time.

"That way it will provide comfort too, keeping them cool in summer and warm on those colder nights," they conclude. "A good quality mattress and pillow protector is also a worthwhile investment."

Have you got some kids' bedroom decor tips to share? Jump in below and add your two cents' worth.

This content was created with thanks to our brand partner Pillow Talk.